Can you believe it, even before the race to find the new Labour
leader gets underway, the jousting begins, and one knight (among the warrior women) has already broken
his lance. Only three days after declaring
his candidacy Chuka
Umunna MP, dubbed the British
Obama[1] and the bookies’ favourite, has
withdrawn.

This is
the wrong time for my candidacy says he; it has already subjected his family to
unwelcomed attention and pressure from the media.[2]The press intrudes; that's what it does and it began some time ago. More recently, since announcing his candidacy and going for such a coveted prize, Umunna would always be targeted for extreme scrutiny for very obvious reasons. Did he not know that? As an inexperienced novice, he would be hung, drawn and quartered.

The outcome of the Leveson inquiry into phone hacking and the ethics and culture of the British press has had little to no effect; it failed to rein in the excesses of the media's pack mentality when it sets upon the lat…